The Other Woman
by GreyLegalmistress
Summary: After today, the gossips of SGH will have plenty more to talk about Alex Karev. But he doesn't care and Izzie finally learns something. Alex, ONESHOT.


Disclaimer: Don't own any part of Grey's Anatomy. The new character (I can't reveal names here, then why would you read!) is totally mine.

_The Other Woman_

Alex Karev had been acting strangely. Or at leas that's what the nurses of Seattle Grace thought. It wasn't sad, or mopey, or angry, as he had been after Isobel Stevens had dumped him for the dying but soulful Denny Duquette. No, Alex was almost, well, giddy. Giddy and Alex Karev were not words which were normally associated with each other, even in the best of times. But on top of the surreal joyfulness was a sense of knowledge, as if Alex knew something nobody else knew, which was possible, but unlikely, given that everyone found out everything at SGH.

Today was the nurses' lucky day, though none of them knew it.

Isobel Stevens and George O'Malley were stationed at the nurses' station, deliberately distanced from Alex, who stood discussing a case with Dr. Burke. It was a typical day at Seattle Grace; interns jockeying for the best surgeries, attendings hogging the on-call rooms; Bailey ordering everyone around, nurses of course bitching about the doctors (behind their backs). But in the course of a few moments, the day would get infinitely more interesting, particularly for the gossips.

As Alex turned to pick up some lab results, something caught his eye. He stopped in his tracks in the hallway. Right in the middle of the hallway. Then he smiled, smiled like nobody, including Izzie, had seen before. It was if all of a sudden, in that second, his world came together again. Because, for him, it had. He continued to grin as he eagerly opened up his arms. He quickly gathered the object of his awe in his arms and lifted her up, spinning her around and definitely holding her close. "Alex," she said, laughing. The laugh caught everyone's attention simply for the fact it was so joyful and alive and unhesitating.

"Hey, baby," he whispered "I thought you weren't going to be in for another week." He set her down gently as he said this, but kept his arms locked around her slender waist.

"I wasn't. But I decided to surprise you. Do you approve?" she asked with a cheeky grin.

"Oh, most definitely," he replied as he hugged her and held her close. Held her in a way that only he could. As they embraced, Alex continued to whisper in her ear, to her delight and to the watchers' avid curiosity.

Perhaps the most curious of those observing the scene was Isobel Stevens, though she would never admit it. But the truth was, she couldn't peel her eyes away. _Alex never held me like that. Or smiled at me like that. Or touched me like that._ Her bitterness surprised her, but Izzie Stevens was most surprised by the jealousy she felt towards Alex's mystery girl. _Whoever she was. Ugh. I don't care, I really don't. Just because he's looking at her like she's his entire world, it really doesn't matter. And I don't care that he was never really affectionate with me in public, except for that one kiss. I DON"T GIVE A DAMN!_

But everyone around her, including George, sensed that she did. Besides, she probably should be envious or at least bothered. Not only had Alex evidently moved on, he'd found a woman who was impossible to ignore.

Josephine May Bronson was every inch as gorgeous as modelesque Izzie, if not more so. Interesting, she was also the polar opposite. Jo, as she went by, was petite, curvy, and luscious. Her gentle waves of reddish-chestnut hair cascaded down her shoulders, pulled away from her face with a simple black clip. Her eyes were hazel, and like Alex once said, were just like her in that they never quite made up their mind. Jo was fair-skinned, freckled after time in the sun, and generously proportioned, with surprisingly long, elegant legs for someone her size. Most of all, she simply radiated with an exuberance, a love of life exceedingly uncommon. This particular day Josephine was clad in dark, hip-hugging jeans, paired with black boots and a red boat neck sweater with a black ribbon bow under the bust. A sequined decorated bag was thrown over her right shoulder.

Alex lifted one hand away from her waist and touched her face gently with the back of his hand. "I'm glad you're here, Joey. I've missed you-but you know that."

"Of course I do. That's why I'm you're Joey and you're my Alex."

"Yeah."

"Yeah."

The pair stood there, still locked close together, just drinking in the sight of the other.

"Karev," snapped Burke, who had walked by. "I need those labs. Your visitor, lovely as she may be, can wait."

Alex looked at Jo apologetically. Placing her hands on his chest, she looked up and smiled. "Go on. I'll see you back at your place." She went to kiss him softly on the cheek, but after years of being apart, Alex had other ideas.

Thus, in the middle of a high volume, highly visible hallway, Alex kissed the love of his life. Kissed her like there was only this moment, only now. He didn't care about Burke or labs or nurses or his ex-girlfriend; all he wanted was to keep his lips on her soft ones, to let their tongues keep mingling. His love for her, and the safety and familiarity of her's for him, were all that mattered. Everything else could wait. After some time (it's a wonder none of the nurses timed it!), he reluctantly broke off the kiss. "I need to go," he said softly, running his rough thumb over her swollen lower lip.

"You do." And in typical Jo-fashion, she pushed him in the direction he had originally been heading. "I'll see you later."

"Hey, Joey." She looked at him, knowing the words which would come, but wanting to hear them anyway. "I love you."

She smiled. "I love you too, Alex Karev. Now get to work, silly boy." With that, she blew him a kiss and began walking away. He smiled, then headed to pick up those labs, whistling as he went.

Meanwhile, having surreptitiously watched the scene unfold, Izzie finally figured it out. What she, and Olivia, and whatever other unfortunate women who had slept with Alex had meant. She knew it now, without a doubt. The woman whom he had just held and kissed and smiled at and whispered really was the only one he would ever love and adore. As for her, well, she was simply the one who didn't matter. All Isobel Stevens was to Alex was this: the other woman.


End file.
